Stamps 40 BC 26 Post Game Stats and Comments

[TheLionKing]

http://cfl.ca/statistics/statsGame/id/10669

Andrew Harris 9 carries 31 yards.

I had low expectations on the Lions and they didn't disappoint. Typical slow start, no running game......AGAIN. Has Father Time finally caught up with Paul McCallum ?

[prj]

Yes, it has.

But there is a serious coaching problem as well. It's more than "Hit the road Jacques." There are serious design and execution problems that likely rest with the Head Coach, among others. The talent is pretty good; the spirit is pretty commendable. But they are just not good enough to beat Calgary or Regina.

(Or the officiating, which is so bad that it looks like the game is being fixed.)

It's been a frustrating season where Wally has some serious decisions to make.

[jwbavalon]

Flame suit on.

I also didn't expect the Lions to do as well as they did, then the 6 pick. On the other hand, Cornish did put on quite the show.

[Rammer]

Flame suit on.

I also didn't expect the Lions to do as well as they did, then the 6 pick. On the other hand, Cornish did put on quite the show.

Perhaps Harris outdid him on one play for putting on a show.

[TheLionKing]

Flame suit on.

I also didn't expect the Lions to do as well as they did, then the 6 pick. On the other hand, Cornish did put on quite the show.

Perhaps Harris outdid him on one play for putting on a show.

You saw that too eh ? Noticed TSN didn't run a replay of that run.

[DanoT]

Flame suit on.

I also didn't expect the Lions to do as well as they did, then the 6 pick. On the other hand, Cornish did put on quite the show.

Perhaps Harris outdid him on one play for putting on a show.

You saw that too eh ? Noticed TSN didn't run a replay of that run.

They did run a replay but they ended it as soon as they could after the plumber's crack appeared.

[Rammer]

I wonder if that play makes the replay game tonight.

[TheLionKing]

I wonder if that play makes the replay game tonight.

It was on Global tonight.

[DanoT]

Based on what i saw tonight, here is what I think the strategy for the O for the week leading up to the game: "Don't just talk about running the ball, spend time practising running the ball. This will force the Stamps to focus on and practice stopping Harris and the run game and this will leave the Lions free to execute the pass game."... Um...er... It didn't work.

It turns out that to use the run game to set up the passing game YOU ACTUALLY HAVE TO RUN THE BALL....who knew?...Apparently the coaching staff didn't know.

On a more positive note, I continue to be impressed with DeMarco's quick release and the zip and spiral that he puts on the ball. Since he is only 24 that means limited previous experience so i don't expect as rapid a learning curve as say Lulay when he was getting his first starts as a Lion.

Brutal reffing, but expected from the worse group of refs in the CFL.

[zark]

The Stumps had 4 field goals and one miss.Our defence sure kept us in the game. I wont say anything about our non existent run game.
Great job from Demarco.
How many QB's can we protect in the expansion draft?? Just one?

[Toppy Vann]

I see Calgary holding a GC this year.

3 hours ago
@MattDuniganTSN: @MattDuniganTSN:
BEST QB Winning % Last 2 Yrs
Glenn, 18-7 .720
Lulay, 19-8 .704.
Durant, 16-13 .552
*min 10 starts #looksgoodonkg

While it should NOT have been big based on the Lions start one play did have a big impact.

That was the non-call on the hit of PM punting out of the end zone that ended up with the Lions down 7 pts instead of a tie such that the INT was a forced throw. You'd like to think that you play well enough to not have a missed call have that big of an impact.

The HC is not really setting the tone and in charge in games.

> the both up not taking the single but getting buried with his special teams captain Jason Arakgi not listening to the ref and they dont give up a single but get bad field position and a bad punt.

Why is this guy captain other than his hustle? You need someone with football smarts to make those calls - just let this guy play.

> Post game he was saying how Calgary was stacking the box to shut down the run!!! The 1040 guys trashed that after he went off the air as Burns the former OL didn't see it and neither did the fans or other media.

> squib kick.

This guy needs to become a head coach and leave crazy Pete to cheer and black slap. Get your freaking head IN the game. Stop running up and down the sidelines.

> I missed Wally's comments but Moj said he said something about lack of intensity in this team.

> QB not running the option right - fix it at the half.

Other teams adjust - these dudes don't.

[Blitz]

It was a heartbreaking loss for our B.C. Lions and a heart breaking ending to a game that looked as if we had a chance to pull off a huge upset.

We got ourselves down on the scoreboard early, as Calgary was able to drive the football against our defense and our offence stuggled. But just before the first half our offence got untracked and Demarco hit Courtney Taylor and he did the rest for our first touchdown of the game.

In the second half our defense really played tough football at times and our offence made plays and suddenly, late in the fourth quarter it was either teams game to win. I was very proud of how hard we battled back, how we never game up. It showed the character of our Leos team.

But with the game on the line, our defense allowed Calgary to mount a drive for the go ahead touchdown and Demarco threw an interception. Those two series sealed the outcome of the game.

The difference in the game was obvious. Calgary had a supeior offensive line that is excellent at run blocking. Jon Cornish is an incredible tailback who breaks tackles and makes huge plays. Iur offensive line is not good enough. On the final offensive drive by our Leos, Calgary rushed three defenders and with Norman and Kabongo double teaming Calgary's nose tackle, he was still able to get quick penetration and get a piece of the arm of Demarco and the football was intercepted.

Game over.

Here are some post game thoughts.

OFFENCE

I had no problem with our Leos offensive strategy of hyping that we had to get our running game significantly improved and then coming out passing in the first half. Calgary was prepared and focused on stopping our run early. You give a defense what it least expects. However, we were not able to pass the football successfully for most of the first half.

Calgary showed a lot of fake blitzes and mixed up their defenses. They also played a lot of press man coverage. Demarco was able to make some great throws over the top against press coverage but our quick game was stymied by Calgary's strategy.

In the second half of the football game we ran the football better a few times but our zone blocking on the zone read play was terrible. Demarco also did not keep the football on the zone read, something that even Benevedes commented that we needed to do more often for the zone read play to open up.

Demarco threw a few footballs away in this game and he also mised some throws but he made some great throws in this game as well. Nick Moore was the leading receiver in this game and continues to impress at slotback. Sean Gore also had a very good game and Taylor was solid.

We went with Iannazzi at wide side outside receiver, coming back off his injury, and once again with him in the starting lineup, production was down. Iannuzzi fumbled and for some reason Demarco was throwing to him on the late fourth quarter interception when Taylor was open in the slot on the play. The ball would not have gotten to Taylor anyway, due to the hit on Demarco;s arm but I still think we are a better team with Paris Jackson than Iannuzzi and our quarterbacks throw to Paris and seem to lack confidence in Iannuzzi. I don't get it. Haidara would be a better option than Iannuzzi.

We passed for over 300 yards against a very stingy Calgary pass defense which has been dominant in its last two games.

But receviing is not the major concern of this offence. Nor is coaching. Nor is quarterbacking. Nor is Harris who may not be as good of a runner as Cornish but when he had a hole he showed he is still a good tailback. The problem is as obvious as a Wally pizza pie in the face. Our offenisve line is NOT GOOD ENOUGH. For me, in terms of the ofensive debate and discussion of our offence, this conclusion, esecially after watching this game and the last 10 games of this season, should be more than obvious.

DEFENSE

Our defense has its struggles early in this game. Calgary came out passing rather than running, expecting our defense to be focused on stopping the run. It was interesting that both teams first half game plans were similar. However, Calgary executed its passing game very well early. However, our defense was able to hold Calgary mostly to field goals rather than touchdowns and that kept Calgary from getting an insurmountable lead early.

Bell had another good game but missed an assignment early, leading to Bighill having to cover a Calgary receiver deep and the result was a Calgary touchdown.

In the second half of the game, our defense really played hard and played some excellent pass defense. However, Calgary's offensive line and the runnning of Jon Cornish was a very tough thing to shut down. Our defense made some great plays on Cornish at times but then Calgary's offensive line was either able to open a big hole for him or Cornish was able to break tackles with great running for a big gain.

We held Glenn to 259 yards passing and he only completed 22 our of 37 passes and many were of the short variety. Calgary's offence was on the field often. However, Cornish was able to run for 130 yards on 15 carries.

We got a very tough break in this game when Sol E. was penalized on a hit on Glenn that should not have been called. But we still held and a Cord Parks interception looked huge at the time. Had Sol E. not been penalized that interception might have come on Calgary's next series of downs and the outcome of the game would have been different.

Sadly, after playing such a good second half, our defense allowed Calgary to drive the football for a touchdown lase in the fourth quarter. Calgary's superior tme of possession in the game and its ability to both run and pass finally wore our defense down. It was a valiant effort by our defense but they could not seal the deal late.

SPECIAL TEAMS

I wrote, prior to this game that a key to winning this game would be a couple of big plays by our Leos on special teams. It could have been a differnce maker. However, it was Calgary who got some big special teams return plays early in this game. Our down field tackling was not good enough on punts and kickoffs and it gave Calgary the field position in the first half that we could not afford to give them.

WRAP

I felt sick in the stomach at the conclusion of this game. Many Leo players made such valiant efforts and a never say die attitude. We came back in this game due to a lot of heart, character, and playing with guts.

But in the end our fate was sealed by the fact that our offensive line cannot run block well enough and the interior of our offensive line cannot pass block well enough etiher. Olofoye and Archibald answered the challenge of pass blocking two outstanding Calgary defensive ends. But the interior of our offensive line was not able to come up with the same results.

Defensively, our linebckers and secondary played very well overall but Calgary's offensive line was able to run block well when it needed to and Cornish showed why he is one of the most talented tailbacks to ever play in the CFL.

Most football games are won and lost in the trenches. On occasion a team can overcome another teams domination on the line of scrimmge but that happens infrequently. It was where this game was lost.

Kudos to our Leos for making this a close, exciting game. Calgary was rolling over its opponents at home and on the road. We gave tham more than a handful. But the better team won.

Name Comp Att Yards TD Int
DEMARCO, T 23 39 301 2 1

CGY Passing Name Comp Att Yards TD Int
GLENN, K 22 37 259 2 1
TATE, D 0 1 0 0 0

BC Rushing Name No Yards Lg TD
HARRIS, A 9 31 12 0
DEMARCO, T 6 23 13 1
ARCENEAUX, E 1 2 2 0
BROWN, T 1 0 0 0

CGY Rushing Name No Yards Lg TD
CORNISH, J 15 130 38 1
GLENN, K 2 6 3 0
TATE, D 2 3 2 0

BC Receiving Name No Yards Lg TD
MOORE, N 6 109 44 1
GORE, S 4 81 39 0
TAYLOR, C 3 43 27 1
ARCENEAUX, E 4 37 20 0
HARRIS, A 4 28 12 0
IANNUZZI, M 2 3 2 0

CGY Receiving Name No Yards Lg TD
MCDANIEL, M 6 87 25 1
PRICE, M 5 68 22 0
SINOPOLI, B 3 40 26 0
CORNISH, J 3 35 25 0
PARKER, A 3 22 11 0
ARTHUR, J 1 1 1 0
MAVER, R 1 1 1 0

BC Fumbles Name Fum Lost Rec TD
IANNUZZI, M 1 0 0 0

CGY Fumbles Name Fum Lost Rec TD
GLENN, K 1 0 0 0

BC Field Goals Name FG XP Single Pts
MCCALLUM, P 1/ 1 2/ 2 0 5

CGY Field Goals Name FG XP Single Pts
PAREDES, R 4/ 5 4/ 4 0 16

BC Punts Name No Avg Yards Long
MCCALLUM, P 10 38.6 386 60
CGY Punts Name No Avg Yards Long
MAVER, R 5 49 245 57

BC Kick Returns Name No Yards Avg TD Lg
BROWN, T 6 158 26.3 0 47
HARRIS, A 1 15 15.0 0 15

CGY Kick Returns Name No Yards Avg TD Lg
COTE, R 1 17 17.0 0 17

BC Punt Returns Name No Yards Avg TD Lg
BROWN, T 2 11 5.5 0 8
IANNUZZI, M 1 6 6.0 0 6

CGY Punt Returns Name No Yards Avg TD Lg
RAYMOND, K 1 0 0.0 0 0

[MikeAK]

I thought a lot of our boys played hard. We had a slow start but were never really out of it until that late INT TD by CGY. After saying that though I feel there are serious issues that need to be addressed this offseason. We all know what they are and where they need to happen because most complain about them every week. My biggest issues iare at offensive coordinator. That man has got to go and there needs to be a new vision in place for next season. I don't see any adjustments on the fly to counter what isn't working. It's the same *poop* over and over again. The other issue I have is at the kicker position. What use to be an area of strength has now become a serious weak link for this team. The field position the opposition is give each week due to our old kicker having lost his game makes it hard for any team to win. Paul, you have been a great soldier for this team and the league but your time has come. Thanks for the memories. Wally has a lot of work to do this offseason and I pray he factors coaching high on the list. It is time for some fresh new ideas and a new vision. The rest of the league has passed us in the coaching department.

[JohnHenry]

I thought the OL had one of their better games giving up only 1 sack with DeMarco having time to pick out his receivers. The QB just made too many bad throws, into the ground or behind the receivers. DeMarco made some nice throws, too, which is expected from a pro QB. Thomas seemed to discover his legs late in the game which hopefully he'll incorporate into his game.

The D had some sloppy tackling last night, as usual trying to shoulder block instead of wrapping up, which is easier said than done against Cornish's high knee-action. LaRose as the last line of defence made several game-saving tackles, as expected. I still think Banks is a better DB than LB.

Brown had some nice returns which put the offence in good field position. McCallum seemed to never get another good kick away after he was hit hard trying to recover his shanked punt, which drew a rough play penalty for some reason.

The pouched kickoff was apparently a "mistake", just like accepting a 5-yd no-yards penalty in the endzone and punting from 5-yds deep in the endzone with a struggling kicker.

All-in-all a pretty good showing by the Leos who tied the game with only minutes remaining but couldn't close it out. Just too many mistakes to beat the premier team in the league.

[Hambone]

One thing I'm surprised hasn't been mentioned was BC's shabby tackling last night. Calgary picked up a lot of yardage last night after first contact or tackle attempts were made. And if it wasn't Cornish or one of the receivers it was Glenn shrugging off pass rushers who had him in their grasp. He shrugged Keron Williams off on one (2nd down I think) and calmly stepped up into the pocket to pass for a first down.

As for Harris I don't think he's running with confidence at all. I know the blocking for the most part hasn't been confidence building however I see hesitation in his game. He doesn't seem as quick to get outside to turn the corner as last year or hesitates waiting for holes to open or to decide which gap to hit. On one 2nd and 3 play in particular last night late in the 3rd quarter the Lions ran Harris left. Archibald and Kabongo pulled left picking up their blocks. There looked to be a seam for Harris to hit between them or to cut back inside Kabongo. The seam wasn't big but if he hit it or cut back I think he picks up at least 2 if not the 1st down. Instead he hesitated allowing the backdoor pursuit to catch him for no gain forcing the punt which would be the 24 yard McCallum shank.